In the elven lands of Raguinia lies the great kingdom of Ríocht. It is a time of mourning as the beloved king has been found dead in his royal chambers. His wife has taken the throne and the people have embraced her as their sovereign queen. No one questions her story that assassins poisoned her husband; no one but her eldest son, the rightful heir to the throne. He believes his mother, drunk with power, has murdered her husband and betrayed the kingdom to form an alliance with Noxstern, an evil kingdom that controls an army of the dead. Without proof of his mother's plans, the young prince is wary of seeking support to overthrow her, though he believes that it may only be a matter of time before the kingdom is lost to the growing darkness overtaking the land.

The king is dead.Long live the queen.

Ríocht is a fantasy rpg that takes place in a medieval elven kingdom where magic is feared, though it can be found if you know where to look.

The main plot revolves mostly around the castle and the royal family, but we love and encourage sub-plots!

Canon and original characters are welcome. We have no bans.

We also have an original Bestiary where contributions are encouraged and interactive battles in the forest where you choose the outcome.

Nicodemus had barely dared to let himself dream Sebastian would be easily found in the Kingdom of Ríocht. He had imagined it would take weeks or more likely months to decipher a true plan to track his mother’s movements from all those years ago. Nicodemus despised his mother, not that he even wished to call her that anymore, no she was merely that woman whose cursed womb he’d grown in and who he shared no more in common with than the slight hint of auburn that ran through his hair. However despite this burning hatred Nicodemus had never thought her to be so monumentally stupid as to settle in the heart of Ríocht and not even change the first name of the boy she had stolen away with her in the night. Though as much as he was loathe to praise the woman Nicodemus did indeed have to thank her for that.

For it was such foolishness which brought Nicodemus to task he was preforming at that very moment. Nicodemus walked briskly through the marketplace outside of The Dewinter Castle. Practically hissing at any of the grubby merchants who, no doubt noticing the quality of his clothing marking his as nobility, attempted to block his path and swindle him into buying their useless wears. One particularly harsh phrase whispered in Rúisis may have caused one of the more aggressive merchants’ stalls to collapse, entirely ruining the produce he was attempting to sell, a few moments after Nicodemus passed. Truthfully though the merchant was lucky that Nicodemus was in a reasonably good mood at the thought of how much Sebastian would enjoy and appreciate the gift he was delivering to him for usually Nicodemus’ taste in magic leaned towards the far more destructive power of fire.

Setting fire to the entire market place would have been too reckless in any case; Nicodemus thought as he listened to the angry swear words of the disgruntled merchant. No one would even appreciate how beautifully the whole thing would burn, this kingdom is so unbelievable stifling. Nicodemus sighed as he pushed open the door of Sebastian business. It made him quite proud honestly to see that while his brother was no longer a lord thanks to their whore of a mother that he had at least managed to make something of himself after being so cruelly taken away from the land that could have been his.

The man who watched the shop for Sebastian, his employee, jumped slightly at the sight of Nicodemus in the doorway. “Lord Ivanov, I’m afraid Sebastian is hard at work and he has surely told you how much he dislikes being disturbed,” the man, Nicodemus would never bother to learn the name of someone so easily replaced, explained and the tone of his voice clear showed that he, mistakenly, thought such a limp explanation would cause Nicodemus to turn as his heel and skulk away. The way the man’s eyes constantly followed him as he walked around the shop and how they narrowed into a slight glare whenever Nicodemus opened his mouth where more than enough evidence for Nicodemus to know the man’s opinion of him. It was amusing really that the man thought his opinion would be important to Sebastian.

“He never objects to my visits,” Nicodemus explained running his fingers along one of the coffins as he walked to the back of the shop where Sebastian slaved away on his exquisite creations. “and he never will,” as sweet a smile as he could muster for the pitiful little man formed on his lips “Simplydelightful speaking to you as always.” Nicodemus made a note to find out how much Sebastian actually cared for the man, he would certainly hate to cause him any amount of pain purely for the sake of ridding himself of a small annoyance.

Nicodemus paused for a moment to watch Sebastian as he worked. He enjoyed stopping to admire the other man’s beauty at any time but there was something special about watching him while he worked, something especially attractive about the determined and focused look on his fine features. He walked slowly to Sebastian’s side so as not to startle him too much. “I do hope I’m not disturbing you? but I stumbled upon this perfect gift for you and I couldn’t wait to give it to you,” he placed his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder as he spoke and caressed it lightly. “It seemed appropriate I give them to you here in any case since the gift does pertain to your work.”

tag darling sebastian. this post is 916 words . lyrics are from Lights by Ellie Glouding. i'd just like to note Nico really does enjoy Sebastian's work tillie at caution and sds.

and in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat
I tried to find the sound
but then it stopped, and I was in the darkness,

so darkness I became...

Sebastian, as usual, had been working in the back of his shop all day and particularly on one coffin. It was rather intricate detail work that had to be carved into the sides and it would probably take him several days to get it all completely carved out, sanded, painted, dried and then lacquered. However he was obsessed with finishing it as the particular design of it had come to him in a dream. Even though the coffin had not been commissioned by anyone, building such fine works of art were, he felt, his life’s purpose and so he took great pride in making every piece to the very best of his ability.

He saw Nico enter his work area out of his peripheral view and he smiled just a little, for as focused on the task at hand as Sebastian always was, he was ever glad to see the man that had walked into his life and stolen his heart so quickly. However, he was just finishing up on one of the corners and really didn’t want to ruin the flow of his work and fortunately, he knew that Nico would be understanding of his need to finish what he had started and would wait without truly interrupting him.

Had he realized, however, as the other man approached him, that he had a large smear of sawdust sticking across his forehead as well as the usual dusting of it across his front and that he had large chunks of wood shavings stuck in his hair, he surely would have wanted to clean himself up before Nico saw him. In truth, he didn’t think that Nico would care no matter how sloppily he presented himself, but still, he enjoyed looking nice in the other man’s presence. Nico was a Lord, after all, and always looked so dashing and Sebastian feared ever disappointing him with his appearance.

He smiled a little wider as the other male spoke though and wider still as he caressed his shoulder so gently yet in such a way that it sent a shiver down Sebastian’s spine. He adored this man entirely, so much so that such a thing so simple as his presence made him want to stop what he was doing, turn to his companion and kiss him with as much passion as he’d been channelling into the woodcarving before him. He had never felt such a way about anyone he’d ever met before and it brought him such a great comfort that he thought he could make all sorts of sacrifices for this man.

”Just a moment,” he said softly to acknowledge that he’d been spoken to and while he loved the feel of the other man’s touch, he simply had to crouch down a bit in order to finish carving away at the particular swirl that would complete that one corner on the coffin. Once it was done though, he flicked away the excess carvings from the side of the coffin and took a step back to assess his work. It seemed that he had finished the corner work to his high standards and so he could finally turn his attentions where they craved to be directed. As such, he turned and slid his hands around Nico’s waist.

”I don’t see how anyone could find you disturbing,” he said as he rested his chin on Nico’s shoulder. He meant it honestly, though some may have thought his statement was meant to be wrought with sarcasm after spending any amount of time in the other Dorchan’s presence. Despite what others may have thought of him, Sebastian truly seemed incapable of seeing any bad within Nico and only focused on the good traits that he saw as being so blatantly obvious. Obviously, in his opinion, others were merely jealous.

”You don’t have to lavish me with gifts, you know, just spending time with you will always be enough for me,” he said honestly, though he added a quick, ”What’d you get me?” as he gazed at the other man adoringly.

In truth, he had his own gift to give, which he’d completed nearly a week prior; however, he had been concerned that it was too soon to be giving meaningful gifts for while he honestly believed that he had fallen in love with Nico at first sight, he couldn’t help but to worry that his assessment of their relationship was not necessarily Nico’s assessment as well. As he felt too awkward to actually approach a conversation on the matter, though he knew he should do so, he chose instead to wait it out. Although, really, he also feared waiting it out too long, which he was sure would result in Nico losing interest in him, which he was also fairly certain he would not be able to handle at that point.

”Oh, that’s so thoughtful of you; you know how much my work means to me... really, what’d you get me?” he felt like a child buzzing about an adult’s legs at the promise of opening a gift, which even he thought was silly as what he really wanted, more than anything, was simply to be held, protected and loved by Nico. A present, even one based around his beloved occupation, would still just be a present long afterward it’d been given. Companionship and love, however, were so much more valuable in his eyes.

Such was his complete infatuation with the man before him and his focus on his work before he’d walked in, that Sebastian had not even noticed the long, spiky splinter that had worked its way under the skin of his palm. The adrenaline rush from working with the wood had apparently not worn off yet and was most likely prolonged due to Nico’s presence, as he had also not noticed that he had pushed the splinter in even further while caressing the other man’s waist.

“Take your time, your work is important, and I could wait an eternity for you,” Nicodemus in some ways already felt he’d waited the longest of ages to see Sebastian again and as such any moment spent in his presence, even if he had not been demanding an ounce of his attention, was a true pleasure. Nicodemus was more than happy to continue lightly massaging Sebastian’s shoulders for a moment before taking a step back and allowing him to proceed with the delicate work of carving intricate designs on the coffin. It certainly did not hurt that Sebastian was required to bend down to finish his work and as such the view while he waited was incredibly pleasing. “I was never before aware that carpentry could cause one to gain such an appealing physique, a most welcome surprise I must admit.”

Nicodemus smiled with more warmth than most people would have believed him capable of when Sebastian’s arms snaked their way around his waist. This smile was followed by a hearty dose of laughter which rocked its way through Nicodemus’ entire body for a moment, no doubt being a little comfortable for Sebastian’s chin as his shoulders shook. The laughter came from the pure earnestness in which Sebastian expressed his confusion as to why anyone could possible find Nicodemus to be in any way disturbing. Running his fingers through Sebastian’s hair with a whisper about how sweet he was Nicodemus shook his head just a little.

“The elves of this kingdom can be most distrusting of our people, Sebastian,” Nicodemus was sure to emphasis the connection of a race that he and Sebastian shared, as he often did when he spoke about his home kingdom and the people who lived there with the other man. There was no way of knowing exactly how being raised in Ríocht could have changed the man that Sebastian may have he been if he had not been snatched away from those who truly cared about him. “You yourself must have experience some of that despite living here for such a very long time, yes?” no matter how hard he attempted to school the tone of his voice, there was always a hint of harshness when Nicodemus referred to the amount of time it had been since Sebastian had left Noxstern. The pain he felt at losing his brother so long ago had not been entirely dulled by the pure joy of having him back in his life, not yet.

In attempt to lighten the mood once more, as he had not visited Sebastian so he could become melancholy, Nicodemus shrugged slightly. “I’ve been told it’s because I have a rather intense stare,” once again brushing his fingers through Sebastian’s hair and then down to stroking his cheek softly. “I care only what you think of me,” Nicodemus pressed his lips against Sebastian’s forehead in a chaste kiss and smiled at him again.

“This doesn’t count as lavishing you with gifts, it’s simply a small token of my affections,” Nicodemus let out another soft laugh as Sebastian so excitedly questioned what exactly the gift he was receiving was. “Well now that I know you’re so interested I may just have to draw things out a little longer before I give this wonderful gift to you dear Sebastian,” he teased as he took one of Sebastian’s hand’s from where it was resting caressing his waist to bring it to his lips for another chaste kiss as though he truly was attempting to court Sebastian like a gentleman should. As he lifted his hand though he noticed the particularly nasty splinter which protruded from his palm.

“Sebastian I thought you were more careful than this?” He said a slight tone of scolding to his voice as he caressed the area around the sharp, thin piece of wood. “It must be painful,” Nicodemus said very softly and kindly directly before he quickly ripped the splinter from Sebastian’s palm. “I’m sorry, I thought it would hurt less if I got it over with as much haste as possible,” he explained as he kissed Sebastian’s hand just above the wound. Frowning at the fact that he couldn’t just heal the, admittedly minuscule, would with the muttering a few words of Ruísis to call upon the tiniest bit of magic. Soon he would be ready to explain to Sebastian that he was a Mage, when he was sure Sebastian could handle it for he truly wished to share as much of himself with the other man as possible. He wanted to share everything short of his family tree.

“Well now of course I have to give you your gift don’t I?” Nicodemus smiled and went to reach for the small box he had left on the top of one of Sebastian’s coffins and handed it to Sebastian. “I hope they are useful to you, I called in one or two favours because obviously wood carving is not my forte, it’s strange I thought I knew an awful lot about knives before I went in search of these for you. They’re Dorchan steel, I’ve been assured they’ll be much sharper than anything you could forge in this kingdom.” Nicodemus knew for a fact they would be as he had endowed them with magic himself to ensure they were the absolute best they could possibly be for Sebastian.

tag darling sebastian. this post is 916 words . lyrics are from Lights by Ellie Glouding. i'd just like to note i hope there's enough to respond to tillie at caution and sds.

and in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat
I tried to find the sound
but then it stopped, and I was in the darkness,

so darkness I became...

”Are you staring at my ass, Nico?” Sebastian asked without standing up nor looking back at the other man. He wasn’t certain that he was, but he was amused even by the thought of it and felt as though he could feel Nico’s eyes on him, which to him, was a comforting feeling. He couldn’t even begin to understand how anyone could feel the slightest bit unnerved by Nico’s presence as he had never felt anything but warmth in the other man and it didn’t make sense to him that anyone else could experience anything else with him.

He shook his head then as Nico mentioned people being prejudiced against their race. ”I know, I have never understood such unfounded bias. It’s not as though we all have been trained to cultivate our magic to be used as weapons or that it would matter even if we were. We still have brains and hearts just the same as them. I don’t think I’ve ever even known anyone of our kind that is trained to use the old magic anyway. Do you? Know anyone, I mean?” he asked it in an offhanded way as he didn’t actually expect any sort of affirmation from Nico.

Sebastian’s mother had always very much downplayed the prevalence of magic use in Noxstern, as she did not want her son to be tempted to pursue any training for the hereditary magic that naturally flowed within him. She did not vilify it entirely though, perhaps because she feared that Sebastian would turn on her if ever he chose to cultivate his abilities. This made sense as, even though he did not know it, his mother had already been faced by such a situation and the result of which had obviously been very tragic. Still, she had very much led Sebastian to believe that it was rare, even in Noxstern, to meet a true Mage.

”Yes, there has been the occasion that I’ve been told to leave an establishment because of my race... and I notice the sideward glances and the way that mothers tend to clutch their children more tightly to them when I’m near. How could I not notice?” he shook his head and sighed.

”I know that it’s because I’m Dorchan and I also know that it’s unfair to judge anyone without a true basis for who they truly are. But I also think that if I weren’t Dorchan then I’d probably get the very same reactions from people. I mean, I do make coffins all day,” he laughed a little, ”it’s not exactly normal, is it?

I don’t even know why I’m so drawn to making them... I just seem to have this... desire, no, need to make them. But others certainly seem nervous around me when I answer to them what it is that I do for a living,” he shrugged, ”But everyone has to be good at something, right? I mean, we can’t all be smooth-talking diplomats, now can we?” he grinned at Nico as he affectionately joked about what he’d been told was the other man’s profession.

”Personally, I like your ‘rather intense stare’... you have such beautiful eyes and when I look into them...” his voice trailed off and he gave Nico a fond smile instead as he could not help but to think that perhaps it was too soon to speak the fact that he felt he could see the heavens and all the gods within the other man’s eyes. Nor did he think that it was yet the time to tell him that he could feel the depths of Nico’s very soul staring back into his own within those deep, dark globes.

Yes, perhaps it was too soon for such words, though he felt them just the same. Yet instead of saying them, he simply smiled at the kiss, one of Nico’s many sweet, chaste kisses that he frequently bestowed upon Sebastian and thus so often made his heart flutter with a yearning that he had never before felt.

”Then feel secure, Nico, for what I think of you would put all others’ to shame with their insufficient thoughts,” his cheeks flushed briefly as he said it, though he didn’t mind as it only proved that he truly meant it.

”Well, how did you know how very fond of small tokens I am?” he grinned and tried not to look quite so childishly excited about the present, but he was really just not very good at hiding it.

”Draw it out? Why Nico, I would not have thought you capable of such torture... you’re normally so sweet,” he grinned and hugged the other man more tightly. If only Sebastian knew just how wrong he was on that point; however, to him, Nico was perfect and Sebastian rather enjoyed the sweet sting of anticipation that he received from the other man.

”Careful with what?” he looked confused for a moment until his gaze followed Nico’s down to the foreign object that jutted out from his hand. ”Oh, I hadn’t noticed it, sometimes I think that surely the sky could cave in around m...” he then let out a dismayed yelp as Nico suddenly yanked out the spiky splinter. He then pouted out his bottom lip as though it was his feelings that had been hurt far more than his hand.

”No, you’re right, I would have been a baby about it had you given me fair warning,” he huffed a little as he shrugged, ”Okay, more of a baby,” he smiled a little and nuzzled his cheek against Nico’s shoulder. Then his excitement over the gift was quickly renewed.

”Oh yes, I definitely deserve a present after such a trauma, you’re right,” he giggled a little as he opened the box, which immediately silenced his laughter with a breathy gasp.

”Oh Nico, these are... they must have been so...I...” he couldn’t form the proper words to express his gratitude so instead, he quickly set the box down on top of the coffin he’d been working on and then spun around to fully face Nico. He then grasped the other man’s cheeks and kissed him with such passion that it flushed his face and left him completely breathless. When finally he broke away, he left their cheeks pressed together and met their torsos together likewise, wanting to be as near to him as he possibly could be.

”I have never received so fine and thoughtful a gift as these,” he said softly as he placed another gentle kiss on Nico’s cheek and then turned back toward the box, though he kept his back pressed completely against the other man. He didn’t want to part from him for even a moment, not after such a romantic gesture. However, he very much wanted to view the knives up close to study the fine details of their craftsmanship and the weight of the Dorchan steel in his hand. He removed one from the box with one hand but slipped the fingers of his other hand down to his side to intertwine with Nico’s.

”They are truly a work of art, Nico; they belong in a display case rather than in my clumsy hands, but just the same, I shall never use another pair again,” he could tell just be the weight, design and feel that he got from the instrument in his hand that he would never have need to use anything else.

”Honestly, if this is what you consider simply a ‘small token’ then I feel as though I should already be excited about what sort of gifts you’ll spoil me with for birthdays and anniversaries,” he blushed as soon as he realised what such a statement implied.

”I mean, not that I expect such things and truly, Nico, these are really too much as it is...” but then he added a bit more softly, ”but I do very much enjoy receiving gifts,” he didn’t want Nico to think that he was ungrateful or, gods forbid, to think that he should not give him anymore presents.